Ronald Franz- met Alex and drove him to his destination "Oh-My-God Hot Springs". Franz was a devout christian who spent most of his adult life in the army. While he was overseas, his wife and only child were killed by a drunk driver in a car crash. He began hitting the whiskey hard. When he finally quit drinking, he started unoficially adopting indiginent Okinawa boys and girls. He adopted14 of them and eventually paid for the oldest to go to medical school. When Franz met Chris, he couldn't get him out of his mind. Franz tried to convince Chris to get an edcation and a job and make something of his life. Chris cut him off and told him he had a college education and that he didn't have to worry about him. Chris spent alot of time with Franz sometimes coming to Salton City to do his laundry or to barbeque steaks at Franz's apartment. Franz was an accomplished leatherworker and taught Alex the secrets of his craft. Franz dropped McCandless off one day at the San Diego waterfront where Chris insisted he had to go. McCandless continued to write to him and later called him to ask him if he could pick him up. Franz later asked Chris if he could adopt him to which Chris responded "we'll talk about that when i return from my Alaskan trip". After Chris departed to Alaska, Franz recieved a letter from him telling him he should try living off the land because it would do him good. He really took that to heart and took Chris' advice. He camped at one of Chris' old camps waiting for him to return. During the last week of 1992, two hitchhikers passed by and informed Franz that Chris had died from starvation in Alaska. After hearing this, he drove to the store, bought wiskey, went back to the dessert and drank the whole bottle.
Wayne Westerberg- working on a combine while recalling the time Alex used to work for him and how he had no common sense.
Gail Borah- Wayne's on-again, off-again girlfriend. 35 year old divorced mother of 2 teenage kids. Her and chris became close very quickly.
Carine McCandless- Chris' sister who he was very close to. He described her as very beautiful.
Walt McCandless- Chris' father who is stubborn and high strung just like Chris. Chris and Walt didn't get along.
Mary Westerberg- Wayne's mom who wasn't fond of Chris until she sat down and talked to him. They talked about books for five hours.
Rod Wolf- one of Wayne's employees who drove Chris to Interstate 94 on his way from Carthage to Alaska.
Edward Hoagland- a Vietnam vet who built a cabin on the Black River east of Chalkyitsik to "get away from people". He starved to death.
Gene Rosellini- "Mayor of Hippie Cove" who was a good athlete and a 4.0 student. He didn't get a college degree because he didn't think he would need it. in 1977 he decided to devote his life to an ambitious anthropological experiment.He dined on roots, berries and seaweed, dressed in rags and covered 18 miles daily. He later realized it isn't possible for humans to live off the land and he gave up. Even though Gene is considered a "McCandless type" he isn't like Chris in the sense that Rosellini gave up on his expedition. Chris stuck to his trips no matter how hard they were. He was going to set out on a trip around the world living out of his backpack. A couple days later, he was found lying face down on the floor of his shack with a knife through his heart. He didn't leave a suicide note. This is another reason why he isn't like Chris, because no matter how hard life was, he didn't end his life. He figured that was taking the easy way out. Chris was like Rosellini in the sense that he was a seeker and had an impractical fascination with the harsh side of nature. John Mallon Waterman- born in the same Washington Suburbs as Chris McCandless. He was the middle son and learned how to climb at age 13 and fell in love with it. He trained whenever he had time to. At age 16, he climbed Mt. McKinley becoming the 3rd youngest person to stand atop the highest landform on the continent. He enrolled in the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and was one of the most promising alpinists in north America. He was described as small, outrageously funny, had the physique of a gymnast and was socially awkward. His parents divorced when he was a teen and his dad abandoned his sons after that which crippled John. His brother lost a leg hopping trains and disappeared shortly after. He later on embarked on a solo ascent of Mt. Hunter’s southeast spur which was an unclimbed route that defeated three teams of elite mountaineers. After 81 days, he reached the summit. When he got back, he was treated like a hero and gave a slideshow presentation of his travels. He was very self-critical and was always analyzing himself. He was also called odd and weird. He would carry notebooks with him and log him entire day and also in college, he would wear a cape and Elton John glasses and play his taped guitar for people and sing about his travels. In college, he ran for school board promoting unrestricted sex and the legalization of hallucinogenic drugs. He lost that election and tried to run for president shortly after. When that failed, he tried again to make another solo attempt but backed out. The second attempt was cancelled when his cabin caught fire. After three attempts that failed, he committed himself to the Anchorage Psychiatric Institute but left after two weeks convinced that there was a conspiracy on foot to put him away permanently. Waterman was last seen on a journey on the North Fork of the Ruth Glacier. Its assumed he broke through a thin snow bridge and plummeted to his death at the bottom of the deep fissures. McCandless ins't like Waterman in the sense that he wasn't mentally ill.
James Brady- fellow climber and college friend of John who said he was “really wacky”
Glen Randall- journalist who reported Waterman’s experiences in Climbing Magazine
Cliff Hudson- bush pilot who’d flown John Waterman out of the mountains
Mugs Stump- a world renown alpinist who’d died on Denali in 1992. On his journey before his death, he crossed paths with Waterman
Guy Waterman- John’s father who was a musician and freelance writer who authored speeches for presidents, ex-presidents and other prominent Washington politicians. He was an expert mountaineer who taught his three sons to climb at an early age. He later divorced his wife and abandoned his sons.
Carl McCunn- an absentminded Texan who was a 35 year old amateur photographer. On a trip near the Coleen River north east of Fort Yukon to shoot pictures of wildlife. He brought 500 rolls of film and accidentally forgot to arrange a flight back home. When he realized he brought way too many gun shells, he felt really silly and tossed them in a lake. When he realized that he had no way out, he was so upset he now had no way to get food since he had no more shells. One day, a plane was flying above and he began to wave for help. He realized the plane couldn’t land because it had wheels instead of floats so he expected that they would send another plane there to save him. Later on he was looking at his hunting liscense and realized that when planes fly over head, they look for people waving with both arms raised which means “SOS”. When someone waved with only one arm raised, that means “All OK”. McCunn only raised one arm when the plane flew by. He began thinking back to when he asked girls he liked to come and they refused. He thought maybe one of them would come looking for him. When he realized no one was coming, he began to scavenge meat from dead animals. By October, he had metabolized most of his body fat and began to get frost blisters on his fingers and toes. He later shot himself to relieve his suffering. McCunn isn't like Chris in te sense that he didn't ever go into the bush assuming someone would automatically appear to save him before he came to grief.
Mark Stoppel- Fairbanks resident who came to know McCunn well during the 9 months they worked on the pipeline together.
Kris Capps- reporter who published a 5 part story on McCunn
Everett Ruess- born in Oakland California in 1914 the youngest of two sons raised by Christopher and Stella Ruess. He was a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, was a poet, a philosopher and a Unitarian minister. He embarked on his first long solo trip at the age of 16. He spent the summer hiking through Yosemite and Big Sur. He returned home to receive a high school diploma and was on the road again in less than a month. He spent the remainder of his life living out of a backpack on the move with very little money. He began to send letters to his friends and family to update them similar to what Chris McCandless did. Ruess was also just as romantic as McCandless. Another similarity between Ruess and Chris is that he was undeterred by physical discomfort. At times, he seemed to welcome it. Finally, like McCandless, Ruess adopted a new name upon embarking on his terminal odyssey. He changed his name first to Lan Rameau, then Evert Rulan, then back to Everett Ruess and finally to Nemo. He vanished at the age of twenty. It is believed that he fell to his death while scrambling on one or another canyon wall. Like Chris, Ruess carved his “Nemo 1934” into a stone slab just like Chris carved “Alexander Supertramp/May 1992” on the wall of the Sushana bus. Everett liked companionship but couldn’t stand to be around people for very long. So he would get himself lost, come back for a while and then get out again. This is another similarity between him and Chris. Ruess is definitely the McCandless type that is most like Chris.
Stella Ruess- Mother of Everett who was a headstrong woman with ambition. She Published the Ruess Quartette a literary journal.
Edward Weston- Met Everett on his first hike and was charmed by the young man to humor him. He let Ruess hang out in his studio and encouraged his photographer dream.
Clayborn Lockett- an archeologist who briefly employed Ruess as a cook while excavating an Anasazi cliff dwelling.
W.L. Rusho- Everett’s biographer.
Ken Sleight- investigator trying to solve the riddle of Everett Ruess’ death. He believes Everett drowned.
Wayne Westerberg- working on a combine while recalling the time Alex used to work for him and how he had no common sense.
Gail Borah- Wayne's on-again, off-again girlfriend. 35 year old divorced mother of 2 teenage kids. Her and chris became close very quickly.
Carine McCandless- Chris' sister who he was very close to. He described her as very beautiful.
Walt McCandless- Chris' father who is stubborn and high strung just like Chris. Chris and Walt didn't get along.
Mary Westerberg- Wayne's mom who wasn't fond of Chris until she sat down and talked to him. They talked about books for five hours.
Rod Wolf- one of Wayne's employees who drove Chris to Interstate 94 on his way from Carthage to Alaska.
Edward Hoagland- a Vietnam vet who built a cabin on the Black River east of Chalkyitsik to "get away from people". He starved to death.
Gene Rosellini- "Mayor of Hippie Cove" who was a good athlete and a 4.0 student. He didn't get a college degree because he didn't think he would need it. in 1977 he decided to devote his life to an ambitious anthropological experiment.He dined on roots, berries and seaweed, dressed in rags and covered 18 miles daily. He later realized it isn't possible for humans to live off the land and he gave up. Even though Gene is considered a "McCandless type" he isn't like Chris in the sense that Rosellini gave up on his expedition. Chris stuck to his trips no matter how hard they were. He was going to set out on a trip around the world living out of his backpack. A couple days later, he was found lying face down on the floor of his shack with a knife through his heart. He didn't leave a suicide note. This is another reason why he isn't like Chris, because no matter how hard life was, he didn't end his life. He figured that was taking the easy way out. Chris was like Rosellini in the sense that he was a seeker and had an impractical fascination with the harsh side of nature.
John Mallon Waterman- born in the same Washington Suburbs as Chris McCandless. He was the middle son and learned how to climb at age 13 and fell in love with it. He trained whenever he had time to. At age 16, he climbed Mt. McKinley becoming the 3rd youngest person to stand atop the highest landform on the continent. He enrolled in the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and was one of the most promising alpinists in north America. He was described as small, outrageously funny, had the physique of a gymnast and was socially awkward. His parents divorced when he was a teen and his dad abandoned his sons after that which crippled John. His brother lost a leg hopping trains and disappeared shortly after. He later on embarked on a solo ascent of Mt. Hunter’s southeast spur which was an unclimbed route that defeated three teams of elite mountaineers. After 81 days, he reached the summit. When he got back, he was treated like a hero and gave a slideshow presentation of his travels. He was very self-critical and was always analyzing himself. He was also called odd and weird. He would carry notebooks with him and log him entire day and also in college, he would wear a cape and Elton John glasses and play his taped guitar for people and sing about his travels. In college, he ran for school board promoting unrestricted sex and the legalization of hallucinogenic drugs. He lost that election and tried to run for president shortly after. When that failed, he tried again to make another solo attempt but backed out. The second attempt was cancelled when his cabin caught fire. After three attempts that failed, he committed himself to the Anchorage Psychiatric Institute but left after two weeks convinced that there was a conspiracy on foot to put him away permanently. Waterman was last seen on a journey on the North Fork of the Ruth Glacier. Its assumed he broke through a thin snow bridge and plummeted to his death at the bottom of the deep fissures. McCandless ins't like Waterman in the sense that he wasn't mentally ill.
James Brady- fellow climber and college friend of John who said he was “really wacky”
Glen Randall- journalist who reported Waterman’s experiences in Climbing Magazine
Cliff Hudson- bush pilot who’d flown John Waterman out of the mountains
Mugs Stump- a world renown alpinist who’d died on Denali in 1992. On his journey before his death, he crossed paths with Waterman
Guy Waterman- John’s father who was a musician and freelance writer who authored speeches for presidents, ex-presidents and other prominent Washington politicians. He was an expert mountaineer who taught his three sons to climb at an early age. He later divorced his wife and abandoned his sons.
Carl McCunn- an absentminded Texan who was a 35 year old amateur photographer. On a trip near the Coleen River north east of Fort Yukon to shoot pictures of wildlife. He brought 500 rolls of film and accidentally forgot to arrange a flight back home. When he realized he brought way too many gun shells, he felt really silly and tossed them in a lake. When he realized that he had no way out, he was so upset he now had no way to get food since he had no more shells. One day, a plane was flying above and he began to wave for help. He realized the plane couldn’t land because it had wheels instead of floats so he expected that they would send another plane there to save him. Later on he was looking at his hunting liscense and realized that when planes fly over head, they look for people waving with both arms raised which means “SOS”. When someone waved with only one arm raised, that means “All OK”. McCunn only raised one arm when the plane flew by. He began thinking back to when he asked girls he liked to come and they refused. He thought maybe one of them would come looking for him. When he realized no one was coming, he began to scavenge meat from dead animals. By October, he had metabolized most of his body fat and began to get frost blisters on his fingers and toes. He later shot himself to relieve his suffering. McCunn isn't like Chris in te sense that he didn't ever go into the bush assuming someone would automatically appear to save him before he came to grief.
Mark Stoppel- Fairbanks resident who came to know McCunn well during the 9 months they worked on the pipeline together.
Kris Capps- reporter who published a 5 part story on McCunn
Everett Ruess- born in Oakland California in 1914 the youngest of two sons raised by Christopher and Stella Ruess. He was a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, was a poet, a philosopher and a Unitarian minister. He embarked on his first long solo trip at the age of 16. He spent the summer hiking through Yosemite and Big Sur. He returned home to receive a high school diploma and was on the road again in less than a month. He spent the remainder of his life living out of a backpack on the move with very little money. He began to send letters to his friends and family to update them similar to what Chris McCandless did. Ruess was also just as romantic as McCandless. Another similarity between Ruess and Chris is that he was undeterred by physical discomfort. At times, he seemed to welcome it. Finally, like McCandless, Ruess adopted a new name upon embarking on his terminal odyssey. He changed his name first to Lan Rameau, then Evert Rulan, then back to Everett Ruess and finally to Nemo. He vanished at the age of twenty. It is believed that he fell to his death while scrambling on one or another canyon wall. Like Chris, Ruess carved his “Nemo 1934” into a stone slab just like Chris carved “Alexander Supertramp/May 1992” on the wall of the Sushana bus. Everett liked companionship but couldn’t stand to be around people for very long. So he would get himself lost, come back for a while and then get out again. This is another similarity between him and Chris. Ruess is definitely the McCandless type that is most like Chris.
Stella Ruess- Mother of Everett who was a headstrong woman with ambition. She Published the Ruess Quartette a literary journal.
Edward Weston- Met Everett on his first hike and was charmed by the young man to humor him. He let Ruess hang out in his studio and encouraged his photographer dream.
Clayborn Lockett- an archeologist who briefly employed Ruess as a cook while excavating an Anasazi cliff dwelling.
W.L. Rusho- Everett’s biographer.
Ken Sleight- investigator trying to solve the riddle of Everett Ruess’ death. He believes Everett drowned.